Prince Avenue advances to state semifinals with 20-15 victory over Bremen

BOGART — Prince Avenue Christian senior Adam Hayden wasn’t thinking about the packed stadium, the huge consequences or the field goal that was blocked earlier in the game.

He just had his mind set on putting the ball between a pair of bright yellow uprights contrasted against a dark November night Friday at Brad Akins Field.

Hayden hit a pair of field goals in the fourth quarter — including a career-long 42-yarder — to give No. 7 Prince Avenue a 20-15 win over Bremen and a spot in the Class A semifinals. The Wolverines will play top-seeded Savannah Christian next week for a spot in the finals.

Savannah Christian defeated Lincoln County 22-14 to reach the semifinals.

“I just kept doing what I’ve been doing all season,” Hayden said. “I just wanted to get the ball up there and trust (the line) that they would block them. … Thoughts go through my mind, but I just try to push them out. I tried to zero it out of my mind so I wouldn’t have any pressure.”

A coin toss will decide where the game between the two No. 1 seeds will be played. It was scheduled for Sunday, but Prince Avenue athletic director Richard Ricketts said the two teams may try and get it done today.

Prince Avenue had never reached the quarterfinals, and Friday’s victory marked another first for the Wolverines.

“If you coach football, you should have hope,” coach Mark Farriba said. “If it can happen to us, it can happen to anybody. It could, if you just work hard and try to get the right guys, you have a chance.”

Before Hayden’s two field goals, Prince Avenue (13-0) was in an unfamiliar position — trailing in the fourth quarter.

After a scoreless third quarter, Bremen scored on a 1-yard dive by quarterback Blake Copeland and converted on a two-point conversion to take a 15-14 lead.

The Wolverines took the ensuing possession 64 yards in seven plays to set up Hayden for a 29-yard field goal, taking the lead back at 17-15.

“It didn’t look good right there,” Farriba said. “They scored and went for two. It felt like we were back on our heels a little bit. Then all of the sudden, we were able to get back down the field and get the lead. I felt like we responded really well to that situation.”

On the Blue Devils’ next possession, junior Rob Farriba intercepted a Copeland pass and returned it 45 yards to set up Hayden’s 42-yard field goal.

“I wasn’t sure I had it because of the height,” Hayden said. “But once I saw it go a little ways, I thought it was going in and got excited.”

Bremen (9-4) was led by Copeland and sophomore fullback Voltaire Driver. Copeland rushed for 93 yards and both of the team’s touchdowns and Driver led the team with 101 yards.

“I thought we did a pretty good job handling them,” Farriba said. “There were some times that we missed some tackles that I thought we had a chance to make. All in all, we made them go the long way and didn’t give them anything cheap over the top.”

After Bremen fumbled away the ball on its second offensive play of the game, Prince Avenue used five plays to go the remaining 36 yards for the first touchdown. Huff capped off the short drive with a 21-yard touchdown run on a reverse.

The Blue Devils responded with an 11-play, 75-yard drive on the following possession that ended with a 1-yard run by Copeland for a score.

Both teams were hampered by 15-yard penalties in the second quarter that snuffed out drives. The Wolverines had a personal foul on its first offensive play of the second quarter and the Blue Devils were stricken with a 15-yard chop-block penalty that all but killed a promising drive.

With 1:39 left in the first half, the Wolverines put together a quick 76-yard drive bolstered by a 54-yard run by Mattox. The junior quarterback punched the ball into the end zone on a 7-yard sweep to the left to score with four seconds remaining.